Goodbye Peter Pan: Dispatches and Polaroids
by Bled Dry
Summary: A little bit of this and that from Goodbye Peter Pan. Some out takes, some future takes, and some mistakes.
1. Chapter 1

_The first few posts here will be other directions I nearly took the story in. When I first started bouncing this story around I was out on a run and played with the idea of Edward coming back. Only this time, Bella was very aware of how dangerous he could be, and Edward had lost his tight grip on... everything. He was a vampire with nothing to lose. As I kept running, this story changed into something very different. I never ended up writing the first, dangerous, Edward._

_In an earlier draft, Bella had asked Edward to leave for a little bit while she left Mike. Edward had complied and then wasn't sure whether Bella had chosen him. His family was even less sure. This scene was actually one of the first I wrote:_

_Mike has just left, and Bella is working alone. Bella has left the door open and is working in the back. As dealing with vampires has left her brave, she interrupts a robbery. Bella is shot, and in that moment, Alice can finally see Bella. She sees that she will die and sends Rose after her. _

"Shit, Bella. Just… shit. Bella, there's so much blood."

"I'm sorry. I understand... You can go."

_Rosalie gets a text from Alice_.

"Let's ask Alice if I live." Rose presses her lips together and looks down, her head slowly moving from side to side.

"Oh. Oh, God. Oh, Rose, I don't want to die. I don't. Please. Please, Rose. Please." Panic sets in.

"You know I can't… Won't. I _won't_ condemn you to this life. We believe ‒ _I_ believe ‒ there's something more after this for you. Something that's not for us. Not anymore."

"Just be with me then. Can you be with me?" Rose nods and holds her hand. "I won't even mind if you slip up."

"Bella stop joking about this."

"Sorry, Rose, but you gotta admit… Did you ever think... think it would come to this? You'd be the one to hold my hand while I die?" Rose is trying to stop the bleeding, but Bella's fading.

"Bella, you need to stop. Fuck. Why can't Carlisle be here? I don't know what to fucking do. All that time… Why didn't I get a fucking medical degree?"

"Rose, stop. You can stop. Alice saw it, saw me. You can't... change the... the... outcome. Will you do something for me, though? I need you to do this."

"Don't ask me that. I don't want to have to say no."

"Not that, Rose. I need you to tell Mike... Tell him I love him, that I thought of nothing but... him 'till the very end."

Rose nods, knowing she would. She also knew it would be the final nail in her brother's coffin, but she would do this for Bella.

"One more... One more thing, Rose." Despite Rose's vampire hearing, she leans toward Bella. It's a human thing to do, despite the not-so-human need to close off her sense of smell in order to be so near.

"You need to tell your brother... Tell Edward... I... I gave him my heart... my soul... the moment I met him. Tell him he took them that day in the woods. He took them, and I had no heart to give to Mike. I could think I loved him. I could say I loved him. But I didn't have the capacity to love him like Edward... Let him know that... know he has... has my love always... in him. He took that. But it's okay now. It's okay, because I don't need it now. He needs it. He has my soul, so it's okay. He's got a soul now. Make sure he reads the letter."

In that very moment, Rose doesn't know if it's Bella's confession that drives her actions, merely the overwhelming assault of Bella's blood on her olfactory system, the feel of it as it pours over her hands, or the slight splatter of it on her cheek as Bella coughs out her final words.

Rose doesn't think why.

Rose just slips.

* * *

><p>Rose runs the body back to the house, and Emmet and Alice help stage the scene, destroy the video evidence, and chase the thief who's left in Bella's car. It's his body that they find in the burnt-out car on the reserve. The wolf pack meets them at the border and helps. They agree to Bella's change and set up finding her body.<p>

Carlisle tends to Bella upstairs. Rose freezes in the living room when she hears Edward's car pull up. Instantly, he's in the house, opening the door so hard it breaks.

"Rose!" he bellows. Suddenly, he's in front of her. Rose is willing to take whatever punishment Edward is going to dole out. She knows she's betrayed his wishes. Instead, he gathers her in his arms. "Thank you," he repeats over and over, falling to his knees and sobbing tearlessly in her arms.


	2. Chapter 2

_Earlier in the story, when replying to reviews, I would mention that Mike wasn't stupid. This was the original end to Bella's funeral. By this point, Edward has read the letter in which Bella confesses her love and her plan to be with Edward once she has properly ended things with Mike._

Edward waits on the dark porch for Mike's return. Edward read enough of his thoughts at the funeral to know that Mike had been far more observant than anyone had given him credit for. He'd paid attention to every dog joke share between Bella and Jacob. He'd done his own research and come to his own conclusions.

Mike's car pulls up, illuminating Edward briefly before he cuts the engine and gets out of the car, slamming the door behind him.

"You know, you being here doesn't make this any easier." Mike doesn't bother with formalities.

"I'm sorry."

Mike sniffs, and Edward can smell the tears. He can hear Mike willing himself not to cry in front of him. "I just wanted you to know that I left. I left because she asked me to, not because I wanted to go. She loved you very much." Edward steps off the porch, moving closer to Mike. This is a conversation for whispers.

"Yeah, all of you are sorry. But not really, are you? In the end, you got what you wanted."

Edward pauses a moment to deliberate how much he should reveal. "What happened, none of us saw coming. There's nothing we could do to change the outcome."

"But you did, didn't you?"

"Yes and no. She wasn't going to survive. We couldn't change that."

Mike looks away from Edward, a million questions racing through his mind before he settles on two.

"Could you bring her around one day? You think she'll remember me?"

"I don't know if we can. It may be a while before she's... We don't know how this is going to work out, yet. She should remember you, though. If not, I'll tell her-"

"Don't. I know she loved me." Mike's voice breaks, but he continues. "She's a… was a... good person. She'll keep that, right?"

"She should. We'll be there to guide her."

"If she doesn't remember me, don't tell her. I think she has a chance to be happy. I don't want her to feel any guilt about me. If she does, don't let her. Tell her I was already thinking about someone else."

"But you're not."

"No, I'm not."

The two are silent. Edward tries to stay out of Mike's head as he reminisces on happy times they shared.

"Thank you. I know you don't want to hear it, but thank you. I broke her, and you put her back together again. Your love made her confident and strong; you made her better. I'm truly sorry that‒" Now Edward's voice is breaking as he struggles to find words. "She was very happy with you. I'm sorry."

"Just love her like she deserves this time." Mike turns away to enter the house.

"The adoption still goes through," Edward reveals. Edward thinks Mike needs something to hold on to, because his thoughts have taken a darker turn. Edward tells him the rest of what Alice had seen. He's going to join a widow support group. There will be a woman his age there who lost her husband in a motorcycle accident. They'll resist it at first, but slowly, they'll fall in love. He'll be a dad again to two girls and a son.

Mike stops with Edward's news but doesn't turn around.


End file.
